Kasper Kaan Kairinen (born 22 December 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer, who plays as a central midfielder for Czech First League club Sparta Prague and the Finland national team.
 Kairinen with Inter Turku in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kasper Kaan Kairinen | ||
| Date of birth | 22 December 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Turku, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sparta Prague | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| TuNL | |||
| –2015 | Inter Turku[1] | ||
| 2016–2018 | Midtjylland | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2016 | Inter Turku | 27 | (0) |
| 2016–2020 | Midtjylland | 5 | (0) |
| 2017 | → Skive IK (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2018 | → Inter Turku (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2019 | → HJK (loan) | 24 | (2) |
| 2020 | → Lillestrøm (loan) | 28 | (4) |
| 2021–2022 | Lillestrøm | 42 | (2) |
| 2023– | Sparta Prague | 41 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2015 | Finland U17 | 10 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Finland U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 2017–2020 | Finland U21 | 19 | (4) |
| 2019– | Finland | 17 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024 | |||
Early life edit
Kairinen was born to a Turkish father and a Finnish mother in Turku, and was raised in Runosmäki.[2]
Club career edit
Inter Turku edit
Kairinen is a youth exponent from FC Inter Turku. He made his Veikkausliiga debut at 25 October 2014 against FF Jaro, coming on as a substitute for Kalle Kauppi after 70 minutes in a 1–0 home defeat.[3] Kairinen became the second-youngest player in Inter Turku's history to play for the club, since he made his debut at the age of 15.[4]
Midtjylland and loans edit
On 1 February 2016, it was confirmed by FC Midtjylland, that they had signed with Kairinen for an undisclosed fee.[5]
On 14 November 2018, Midtjylland announced that Kairinen would spend 2019 at HJK Helsinki on a loan deal.[6]
Lillestrøm edit
Kairinen had a successful loan spell with Lillestrøm SK in Norway in the 2020 season, after which the club gained a promotion to Eliteserien. After the season, Kairinen transferred to Lillestrøm on a permanent contract, signing a four-year deal, for a transfer fee of €300,000.[7][8] In late 2021, he suffered from a long-lasted foot injury, which was eventually operated in January 2022 by surgeon Lasse Lempainen in Turku, Finland.[9]
Sparta Prague edit
On 20 December 2022, it was confirmed by Sparta Prague, that they had signed with Kairinen on a deal until 30 June 2026, [10] for a reported fee of €1.5 million.[11] Kairinen scored a goal and provided an assist in his debut in Czech First League on 5 February 2023, in a 4–1 home win against Mladá Boleslav.[12] During his first season in Prague, he helped the club to win their first Czech championship title since 2014.[13] On 16 March 2024, Kairinen extended his contract with Sparta until 30 June 2028.[14][15]
International career edit
Kairinen made his debut for the Finland national team on 8 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a 54th-minute substitute for Rasmus Schüller.[16]
Style of play edit
This section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. (May 2018) |
Left-footed and very confident on the ball, Kairinen reads the game well and has a great range of passing and shooting from distance. Local journalists consider him the best young talent in Finnish football and expect him to develop into a deep-lying midfielder in the Andrea Pirlo mould.[4]
— Michael Yokhin of The Guardian on Kairinen, October 2015
Kairinen's ability to control midfield is remarkable. His understanding and vision are already impressive, and he seldom seems to be in a hurry, picking his passes with elegance and precision. Deployed largely in an attacking role, he has shown an aptitude for defensive work too.[17]
— Mikael Erävuori of UEFA.com, October 2015
Personal life edit
Kairinen has two siblings; an older brother and a younger sister. At the age of five, Kairinen suffered a tragic loss when his father passed away.[18] He has openly told about the eating disorder and depression he suffered during his time with Midtjylland, which almost ended his career prematurely.[19][20][21]
Career statistics edit
Club edit
- As of 28 April 2024[22]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Other | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Inter Turku | 2014 | Veikkausliiga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Midtjylland | 2016–17 | Danish Superliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Skive IK (loan) | 2017 | Danish 1st Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Inter Turku (loan) | 2018 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| HJK (loan) | 2019 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | 6[c] | 0 | 35 | 3 | |
| Lillestrøm (loan) | 2020 | Norwegian First Division | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 4 | ||
| Lillestrøm | 2021 | Eliteserien | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | Eliteserien | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 0 | 28 | 1 | ||
| Total | 42 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 2 | ||
| Sparta Prague | 2022–23 | Czech First League | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24 | Czech First League | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 14[c] | 0 | 42 | 2 | ||
| Total | 41 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 60 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 178 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 225 | 12 | ||
- ^ Includes Finnish Cup, Norwegian Cup and Czech Cup
- ^ a b Includes Finnish League Cup
- ^ a b Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
- ^ Includes four appearances in UEFA Conference League
International edit
- As of match played on 26 March 2024.
| National team | Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Finland | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 2[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 2[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 8[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
- ^ Appearances in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
- ^ Appearances in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League.
- ^ Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification.
- ^ Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification.
Honours edit
Midtjylland
Sparta Prague
- Czech First League: 2022–23
- Czech Cup runner-up: 2022–23
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Breakthrough of the Year: 2015[23]
- Finnish FA: U21 Player of the Year, 2017[24]
References edit
- ^ Tulospalvelu Palloliitto
- ^ Interin Kairiselta odotetaan ihmeitä (in Finnish) Turun Sanomat
- ^ "Inter Turku vs. Jaro - 25 October 2014 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Next Generation 2015: 50 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023.
- ^ FCM sikrer sig finsk midtbanetalent, fcm.dk, 1 February 2016
- ^ Kaan Kairinen udlejes til den finske mesterklub, fcm.dk, 14 November 2018
- ^ Kaan Kairinen teki sopimuksen Norjan liigaan nousseen Lilleströmin kanssa, Yle, 15 December 2020
- ^ Norjan pääsarjaan nouseva suomalaispelintekijä avoimena – ”Kovempi vaatimustaso kuin HJK:ssa”, mtvuutiset.fi|MTV Oy, Timo Innanen, 12 December 2020
- ^ IL: Huuhkajien keskikenttämies joutui jalkaleikkaukseen – missaako kauden alun?, suomifutis.com, 19 January 2022
- ^ "Na Spartu přichází Kaan Kairinen". Sparta Prague (in Czech). 20 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ "Miljoonasiirto talvella ja nyt Tšekin mestariksi: Kaan Kairisella huippukevät". Yle (in Finnish). 24 May 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "Sparta Prague vs. Mladá Boleslav 4 - 1". soccerway. 5 February 2023.
- ^ "Sparta v euforii! Remíza na Slovácku odstartovala mistrovské oslavy". Sport.cz (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ Ikola, Eetu (16 March 2024). "Huuhkajien huippupelaaja teki kovan sopimuksen!". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). MTV Oy. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- ^ "Kairinen prodloužil smlouvu". Sparta Prague (in Czech). 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- ^ "Sweden v Finland game report". Eurosport. 8 January 2019.
- ^ UEFA
- ^ Pimeydestä valoon, X-lehti, 16 March 2024
- ^ Jalkapalloilija Kaan Kairisen syömishäiriö alkoi 17-vuotiaana joukkueen punnituksista: ”Vertailimme tuloksiamme – kilpailu meni liian pitkälle”, seura.fi, 2 June 2022
- ^ Superlupauksen pitkä polku, Helsingin Sanomat, Ari Virtanen, 4 September 2021
- ^ Andrea Pirloon verrattu suomalaislupaus sairastui syömishäiriöön ja ajautui syvälle – Kaan Kairinen sai vaikeuksien jälkeen miljoonasiirron, Yle, 6 January 2023
- ^ "Kaan Kairinen". soccerway.
- ^ Kai (30 October 2015). "Tässä ovat Captain's Ball -futisgaalan kaikki palkitut tahot". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ Is, Stt- (3 November 2017). "Filip Valencic on Veikkausliigan kauden paras pelaaja". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
External links edit
- Kaan Kairinen at Soccerway
- Kaan Kairinen at National-Football-Teams.com
- Kaan Kairinen at Soccerbase
